Mobileact Unsigned

…well, thank goodness that’s over. Maybe I can have my Sunday mornings back now, free from the morbid compulsion to watch Jo Whiley fawning over some middling indie tripe – only in this case middling indie tripe that isn’t signed to a major label (yet). Was it me or were all the bands, perhaps with the exception of that lot that seemed to have heard a few Tom Waits records, really crap? Was that really the best of British unsigned music? I’m sure there are at least thirty bands in Oxford better than Envy And Other Sins…

Did anyone else find themselves bizarrely unable to turn this off every time it came on?

This was posted on 23 December 2007. More stuff in this section:

  • asher dust

    Tis a shame to admit, I was addicted, I even set the timer to watch this tripe every week.

    At least the Mentalists didnt win.

  • Andrew Thompson

    Yes, it was a curiously addictive piece of telly. The Tom Waits-inspired bunch were by far the best and the rest were godawful. I’m not even sure the amount of cash on offer made it worthwhile winning – the winners were still going to be at least £60k in debt to the record company. Or rather, they would have an advance of £60k. And the winners were knocked out early in the competition weren’t they, only to be magically voted back on ? If I had to hear any more platitudes dribbling out from Jo Whiley I would have had to write a strongly-worded letter of complaint to someone. That would have shown her.

  • http://www.musicinoxford.co.uk stuart

    Jo Whiley’s passion for low-quality indie scares me. We went to see TYK play at the Little Noise sessions at the Union Chapel, and she genuinely adores Jack Penate. I think it possible she has no ears under that blonde mop.

  • Grundy

    the programme seemed to be on every time i had a lunch break at the weekends. the bands were truly shocking. really really bad.

  • http://www.borderville.com joederville

    yeah I watched most of it as well, found it thoroughly depressing. To be fair, I didn’t think Envy and Other Sins were that bad really, much better than Revenue who were one of the worst bands I’ve ever seen.

    Rather like reading the NME, it just made me think that I’ll never, ever, ever get signed if this is what The Public and The Industry are looking for. Ho hum.

  • asher dust

    Yep, The Envy and other Sins track was the strongest , Totally agree re Revenue….However the Mentalists for me were the most deluded and straight up rubbish…..

  • http://www.borderville.com joederville

    Big Speakers played with them in London once according to Mr O’Hawk…were you at that one AJ?

  • asher dust

    The Mentalists?..yep..remember it well..they were aloof and up their own arses….tight..but shite

  • http://www.borderville.com joederville

    I thought they were OK, at least a bit more interesting than most of the other acts…

    The whole thing is such a farce though, like most BOTBs. And Jo Whiley is definitely worrying, like some snow queen of mediocrity…what was truly baffling was the artbitrary way they claimed some bands had “improved” from week to week, pretending they’d knocked up new songs, saying they’d really got the crowd going or whatever – they’ve only got 3 minutes each! How can they possibly have shown their potential to do anything but release a radio 1-friendly single?

    Another way to make fast cash out of desperate fools.

  • J

    If there are so many better bands in Oxford, please show me who they are/ where they are!.
    Why weren’t they on there?.

    Less ranting more giging please.